Learning Objective 4
Digital representation is one of the most powerful tools we have because it allows us to store, copy, share, and process information at incredible speeds. We can now share videos, photos, and large documents across the world almost instantly. We often do not realize the infrastructure behind it, and we forget how fortunate we are to have access to so much information so quickly.
Although the speed of information is truly amazing, digital representation still has limitations. Digitalization is only a representation of what is being captured. It cannot fully capture every detail, and by its nature, it simplifies what was real. We always need to keep in mind that a digital representation is not the real thing. It is only part of it.
Digitalization can make information easier to use, but it is not perfect. We also lose some information during the conversion process. That is why we need to be careful not to fully trust every digital source or digital version of something, because it will never fully represent the real world.